The cars of tomorrow may very well be powered by the sun, but not in the way you might think. Harvard researchers recently published a paper outlining a technology that utilizes solar energy to split water (H2O) into hydrogen and oxygen. Bacteria are then used to transform the hydrogen into liquid fuel, siphoning off carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the process.
It’s called the “bionic leaf 2.0,” and it was co-developed by Daniel Nocera, the Patterson Rockwood Professor of Energy at Harvard University, and Pamela Silver, the Elliot T. and Onie H. Adams Professor of Biochemistry and Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School.
“This is a true artificial photosynthesis system,” Nocera told the Harvard Gazette. “Before, people were using artificial photosynthesis for water-splitting, but this is a true A-to-Z system, and we’ve gone well over the efficiency of photosynthesis in nature.”
The first system used nickel-molybdenum-zinc as a catalyst in the creation of hydrogen. The alloy also created molecules that would destroy the fuel-creating bacteria, which meant the system was required to run at very high voltages, cutting into its efficiency. Conversely, the new system uses cobalt–phosphorous as a catalyst, which doesn’t create the bacteria-destroying molecules, allowing for lower voltages and higher efficiency.
How efficient? Try 10 percent, far surpassing the 1 percent seen in plants. That means it’s ready for consideration in commercial applications.
“It’s an important discovery – it says we can do better than photosynthesis. But I also want to bring this technology to the developing world as well,” Nocera said.
According to Silver, the system can also be used to create “any downstream carbon-based molecule,” making it extremely versatile. “The beauty of biology is it’s the world’s greatest chemist,” Silver said.
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